MARAD awards $2.3 million to state maritime academies

OCTOBER 14, 2012 —The U.S. Maritime Administration says that America's six state maritime academies will receive an additional $2.3 million total from a government program that recycles obsolete vessels.

Funding is being made available from the sale of obsolete vessels from the Maritime Administration's National Defense Reserve Fleet and budget savings generated by the Maritime Administration.

The Maritime Administration awarded $392,913 each to the California Maritime Academy in Vallejo, Calif.; the Great Lakes Maritime Academy in Traverse City, Mich.; the Maine Maritime Academy in Castine, Maine; the Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Buzzards Bay, Mass.; SUNY Maritime College in Fort Schuyler, N.Y.; and Texas Maritime Academy in Galveston, Texas.

"The Maritime Administration continues to focus on the future of our maritime industry by supporting key programs that prepare our next generation of maritime professionals for tomorrow's challenges." said Maritime Administrator David Matsuda.

The awards were welcomed by Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD) President Edward Wytkind, who said that "If the United States Merchant Marine is going to thrive and compete globally, our training programs must be second to none."

Mr. Wytkind said it was "disappointing" that Republican presidential Mitt Romney "has a a different view."

"As governor of Massachusetts," said Mr. Wytkind, "Mitt Romney proposed closing his state's maritime academy in 2003 noting that 'we don't have much of a Merchant Marine in Massachusetts.' "